Trademarks only matter if the intention or effect is to impersonate the business. If you started makeing feature length movies and used Steamboat Willy in the opening to trick customers into thinking it was a Disney movie they might be able to sue, but otherwise trademark doesn’t work that way.
You’re right. But they don’t need to win the legal battle. They just need you to give up (lose) the legal fight. If enough people give up, the rest will stop fighting, and Disney wins the war. They’re rich enough and greedy enough that it can work.
Again, given there is no basis in law for trademark to work that way, Disney would be on the hook for all legal fees and everyone involved would know it. Throwing money at lawyers in hopes of dragong things out into a settlement doesn’t work when there isn’t any question of who will win.
